Wind-farm construction begins in N.Y.

Hilary Smith

Tuesday

Oct 30, 2007 at 12:01 AMOct 30, 2007 at 10:13 AM

Turbines are about to turn in Cohocton, and projects in Prattsburgh and Italy are not far behind.

Construction has begun on a pair of wind farms in Cohocton, with plans for more in Prattsburgh, Italy and elsewhere in Steuben and Yates counties. Below is a description where each of the projects stands.

Cohocton Wind

• Company: Canandaigua Power Partners I, LLC, a subsidiary of UPC Wind. UPC Wind has wind farms operating in Maui, Hawaii; Mars Hill, Maine; and Lackawanna, near Buffalo, with many other projects under development.

• Project Web site: www.cohoctonwind.com

• Location: 32 turbines will be located on Pine Hill and Lent Hill, northeast of the village of Cohocton; three turbines will be located just southwest of the village on Brown Hill. The entire project site covers about 4,800 acres of land leased from 29 individual landowners. The collection station will be built on Lent Hill; the substation will be built on Brown Hill. A small portion of the transmission line will fall in the town of Avoca.

• Details: The project includes up to 35 Clipper C-96 wind turbines, which each have the capacity to generate 2.5 megawatts (MW), for a total of 87.5 MW. Each turbine tower will be about 262 feet tall. At its highest point, when one of the three 153-foot rotor blades is fully vertical, the entire turbine will reach a height of about 420 feet. Other elements of the project include 8.8 miles of access roads, 15.4 miles of underground electrical lines, a collection station, a construction staging area, two permanent meteorological towers and an operations and maintenance facility.

• Payments: Rather than from taxes, towns will generally earn revenue from wind farms through host agreements and payments in lieu of taxes, known as PILOT programs. Host agreements are negotiated between the wind-farm company and the town; PILOT programs are established by the local industrial development agency, in this case the Steuben County Industrial Development Agency (SCIDA). In PILOT programs, the wind-farm company makes payments to the local school district, county and town.

SCIDA is in the process of adopting a universal PILOT formula, based on the number of megawatts generated, that would apply to all wind-farm projects in the county. Under that formula, between 50 and 60 percent of the payments would go to the school district, and the rest would be split between the county and the town.

For the Cohocton project, both host agreement and projected PILOT agreement payments will be made annually over the course of 20 years. The town of Cohocton has already received an advance payment of $425,000 from UPC Wind as part of the host agreement; about $300,000 more is due by January. Combining the host agreement and projected PILOT payments for both Cohocton Wind and Dutch Hill wind farms, the town of Cohocton will receive about $950,000 after the first year of operation and $870,000 after the second year. Payment amounts decrease each year thereafter. After 20 years, payments to the town are expected to total about $11.5 million; $8.6 million from the host agreement and $2.9 million from the town’s share of the PILOT payments.

• Employees: Six to eight maintenance employees will be hired once the turbines are in operation. They will work for both Cohocton and Dutch Hill wind farms.

• Permit status: The project’s final findings statement was adopted in July, approving construction under a long list of conditions.

• Construction: Work began in late August, creating access roads and a construction staging area. Workers are currently scraping away topsoil and beginning excavation at the individual turbine sites.

• Lawsuits: Two “Article 78” lawsuits regarding the improper issuance of special-use permits have been filed. Defendants in both cases include UPC Wind, Canandaigua Power Partners I and II, and the Cohocton Planning Board, which was the lead agency for the project. One case addresses the entire Cohocton project; the other focuses on the siting of a few specific turbines close to a former landfill. Plaintiffs in the first case include Cohocton Wind Watch, a citizen organization that is against the siting of the turbines as proposed, and about 20 individuals, many of whom reside on land abutting leased areas where turbines will be installed. Plaintiffs in the second case include four individuals whose property abuts the few turbines in question.

Various motions were heard in court on Oct. 19, including a motion to dismiss the suits. The judge has yet to rule on the motion to dismiss, and the suits are still in progress.
• Interest groups: Cohocton Wind Watch; www.cohoctonwindwatch.org.; www.cohoctonfree.com.

Cohocton Wind also has a local wind support group called Yes! Wind Power for Cohocton; its Web site is www.yeswindcohocton.com. The company also has a community relations office at 28 Maple Ave., Cohocton.

• Location: Dutch Hill, north of the village of Cohocton. The project covers about 2,560 acres of land leased from seven landowners.

• Project details: The project includes up to 16 Clipper Liberty C-96 wind turbines, which each have the capacity to generate 2.5 MW, for a total of 40 MW. Other elements of the project include five miles of access roads, 2.6 miles of underground electrical lines, a 3.8-mile above- and below-ground transmission line to a substation on Lent Hill and one permanent meteorological tower. It will share an operations and maintenance building with the Cohocton project.

• Payments: The Dutch Hill and Cohocton projects have separate host agreements, but the town’s anticipated revenue for both projects is listed in the description of the Cohocton project.

• Employees: Six to eight maintenance employees will be hired once the turbines are in operation. They will work for both Cohocton and Dutch Hill wind farms.

• Permit status: The project’s final findings statement was adopted in July.

• Construction: Work began in late August, and workers are currently clearing topsoil, excavating and pouring cement at individual turbine sites, beginning at site 1A and proceeding numerically to site 15A.

• Lawsuits: An “Article 78” lawsuit alleging the improper issuance of special-use permits is currently in progress. Defendants include UPC Wind, Canandaigua Power Partners I and II and the Cohocton Planning Board. The plaintiff is a landowner who has not leased land for the project, but who lives near a turbine site. Various motions were heard in court on Oct. 19, including a motion to dismiss the suit; the judge has yet to rule on that motion.

• Company: WindFarm Prattsburgh LLC, a subsidiary of UPC Wind. Global Winds Harvest, Inc. was also a partner during development phases.

• Project Web site: www.windfarmprattsburgh.com

• Location: Prattsburgh, Steuben County and Italy, Yates County. The project will cover about 2,500 acres of private land leased from about 24 landowners.

• Project details: The project includes up to 44 GE SLE wind turbines, which each have the capacity to generate 1.5 MW, for a total of 66 MW. Other elements of the project include a system of gravel access roads, overhead and underground electrical lines, a substation, two meteorological towers and an operations and maintenance building.

• Payments : A host agreement is in the final stages of being approved; SCIDA is still finalizing a universal PILOT formula for all wind projects in Steuben County.

• Employees: Once in operation, the project is set to employ six to 10 maintenance employees.

• Permit status: The project’s draft environmental impact statement (EIS) was adopted in August 2006; its final EIS was adopted in April 2007; and its final findings statement was adopted last May.

• Construction: Work is set to begin in November.

• Lawsuits: None.

• Interest groups: Advocates for Prattsburgh is a community organization that says it is not against wind power in general but that it is against the “inappropriate siting” of the turbines. Its Web site is www.prattsburgh.org.

Ecogen Prattsburgh-Italy Wind Farm

• Company: Ecogen, LLC

• Project Web site: www.ecogeneis.com

• Location: Towns of Prattsburgh, Steuben County and Italy, Yates County. About 24,000 acres were identified within which the individual turbine sites will be located; the boundaries of that area are Twelve Mile Creek Road to the west; McMichael Road to the east; Edison Road, Italy Valley Road and Italy Turnpike Road to the north; and West Creek Road to the south. Project manager Tom Hagner said Ecogen is still in the process of narrowing down the area.

• Project details: The project would include up to 53 1.5 MW turbines and would generate up to 79.5 MW.

• Payments: A host agreement has yet to be finalized. SCIDA is still finalizing a universal PILOT formula for all wind projects in Steuben County.

• Employees: Once in operation, the wind farm would employ six to eight employees for maintenance.

•Lawsuits: Ecogen has filed a lawsuit against the Town of Italy, citing violation of the equal protection of due process rights. It was brought about because the town allegedly indicated it would provide zoning for a wind farm for Empire Wind, one of Ecogen’s competitors, but not for Ecogen. The case is still under litigation, and the next court date is Nov. 7.

• Interest groups: Advocates for Prattsburgh.

Wind-farm projects are also in the works in the Steuben County towns of Hartsville, Hornby and Howard. SCIDA accepted the final EIS for the Howard project on Oct. 25; the next step will be to issue a findings statement, which approves a project as long as the developer meets certain conditions. Developers for the Hartsville and Hornby projects have both finished the scoping process and are working on their draft environmental-impact statements, said James Sherron, executive director of SCIDA.

Hilary Smith can be reached at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 343, or at hsmith@mpnewspapers.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.